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Digimon: All-Star Rumble Review

Digimon: All-Star Rumble

Developed by Prope

Published by Bandai Namco

*Go Forth Agumon, Saviour of the Digital World*

*Please Note: This Review is of the PlayStation 3 Version*

The Story:

Digimon: All-Star Rumble takes place at a time of peace in the digital world and while they enjoy the nature of peace; they find it boring. So all the Digimon decide to have a fighting tournament to determine who the strongest Digimon in the Digital World is however this fun tournament has an ulterior motive behind it as the Digital World’s fate hangs in the balance.

The Gameplay:

Digimon: All-Star Rumble is a fighting game that features multiple game modes. The story mode feels like a cross between full level exploration and a traditional arcade ladder as you choose your Digimon to play with and explore each level looking for Bits (The Game’s Currency) aswell as collectible Digimon cards before doing battle with one of your fellow Digimon. You fight numerous enemies on each stage however the playable Digimon work as sort of a boss for each level. Each fight with said Digimon plays with a different style of battle which I will go into more detail now. In point battle you essentially just kick the living daylights out of your opponent to score as many points as possible with every successful hit. Bomb battle is where you fight with a ticking time bomb strapped to you which basically gets more close to blowing up the more you are hit. Other modes included are Flag Battle, Damage Race, Survival and Medal Battle. All in all, the combat works well and feels like a throwback to the old Digimon fighting games while combining new elements from other Anime fighting games such as Naruto.

The Sound:

Digimon: All-Star Rumble has a decent soundtrack which takes me back to the days of the older games however I do feel it could have been improved upon and another personal quarrel with the game is the lack of the Digimon theme tune however I feel that is just me being picky. One thing I can definitely praise about the game is the voice cast which consists of voice actors familiar with the Digimon Anime series with some even reprising their roles from previous Digimon outings including Tom Fahn, Lex Lang, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn & Steven Blum to name a few of the talented actors involved in the game.

The Graphics:

Digimon: All-Star Rumble is not the greatest game in terms of visuals with the game sometimes looking like a very early PS3 game/ late PS2 game however the characters and visuals do look pretty good at times. I do feel like more effort was put into some levels more than others but the levels do still look pretty detailed in terms of the structures of the levels and the full map that’s available to explore in each world.

Lasting Appeal:

Digimon: All-Star Rumble can get slightly repetitive in terms of the story however if you are wanting to battle with friends in the multiple modes available then there is plenty of replayability. Add in the fact there is plenty of Trophies/Achievements (Depending on console) to earn which can take some time plus the fact that getting all the Digimon cards can be based around luck so that adds extra time aswell.

Final Thoughts:

All in all, I feel that Digimon has made the long awaited return that I as a fan have been waiting for however I feel that there is also plenty of improvements that can be worked on aswell. I feel that this game will prove that Digimon can still last in this modern day after a long absence however I feel the game could have been better if it had moved from the fighting approach and more towards the RPG genre as seen in Digimon World. In the end, the game is still enjoyable and definitely one for the fans. A Great Return for the Digimon Series that hopefully won’t disappear anytime soon.

My Score = 7.9/10

The Good:

Enjoyable Story

Familiar Characters

Great Combat

Plenty of Modes

Brilliant Voice Cast

Loads of Replayability

The Bad:

Graphics aren’t the greatest

Soundtrack could be improved

No Digimon Theme Tune

Story mode can get repetitive

Digimon: All-Star Rumble is available now for PS3 & Xbox 360. Thanks go out to Bandai Namco for supplying the game and assets used in this review. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this review in the comments section below and be sure to stay tuned to UGNN for all your gaming news and reviews and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.